Benjamas Thai — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

Arrived at the restaurant at 5:20pm. No one else was in the restaurant yet, we got given menus and sat straight away. Order was taken quite promptly after 25 minutes the waiter came over to say that one of the dishes wasn't available which was a soup so we reordered and he asked what the entree was again that was ordered. We still hadn't received drinks by this time which was 3 Singha, a verdehlo and a lemon lime bitters and we asked for the drinks to come out. 40 minutes later drinks still hadn't come out so I stood up and asked the other woman for our drinks which she got to get out straight away. There was no Singha and no verdehlo available. The only white white wine available was a Chardonnay so a beer was ordered instead. There was also only Leo beer available. The waiter forgot to put our food through and had to come and ask us again what we ordered. When the order was eventually put through it it was prompt and tasty. He forgot to put our coconut rice through also which only arrived after we asked him as he had forgotten to put it through and when we had finished nearly everything else. One person at the table ordered separately which was the soup which wasn't available and she had ordered a soft shell crab dish which never arrived and she ended up cancelling. By this time the restaurant was quite busy and several customers got up and left without staff even noticing. Several people waiting for take away orders were also waiting and getting frustrated. At the end we asked for the bill and they tried to charge us for the beer that wasn't available which was $2 extra per beer. A $17 surcharge was added 15% which is usually normal but after the poor service we received we thought there would be some compensation for a $130 bill which there wasn't. One mistake is understandable but when you make mistake after mistake when at the time we were the only people in the restaurant before other people arrived on the Easter Monday with only a sorry it isn't really acceptable. This is extremely disappointing and I sadly have to say after visiting this place in the past I won't be back or recommending it to anyone else as the extremely poor service didn't unfortunately make up for...

Absolutely mortified, when we came in here me and peter and his son there was only another table and we placed our order before them well in advance 10 minutes, and yet they got served an hour ago and we are still sitting here after an hour it’s exactly 1:20 minutes since we have been waiting and no today is Wednesday and there was only bother table with 4 people and then we came in and yet the service is like nothing I could have possibly used my imagination to think of.

If I could give minus stars I would, unfortunately this crooked business now has 1 star from me.

Well I’m a local and you will never see me and my family here.

Also just had the food now so I thought I’d edit my review the food feels like nothing of quality The meat the rice everything

This place doesn’t even deserve the 1 star this place is an insult to humanity, if I knew it was like this I wouldn’t have humiliated myself to come and sit here watch them go around for 1:20 waiting for some boiled meat mixed with spice they call Thai They can’t even cook Thai The chef is only running this because it was a Thai restaurant before and he wants to keep the business he has no knowledge of how to cook Thai Peter’s Sony didn’t even have more than 2 bites

I wish I could insult them the way they did to me But how can I ? If I yell I get cops called same if I don’t pay ... I just don’t know what to tell them

I have already said to them I’m leaving this review and she acts like we are stupid or something ....

I hope they go to a Thai restaurant one day with their families and get treated like this and then be served with bad food and a smiling waitress on the top to make you feel...

Update Today meal was so disappointed especially with their new menu. The prices have increased significantly, making it feel overpriced for the quality. The staff working today were inexperienced and provided poor service. The overall experience was underwhelming. I miss the old vibe and the friendly environment. You should keep your food and overall standard as i reviewed below last time. v v v Went here on Monday last week and just wanted to shoot you a quick note to say your food and service are always top-notch, making your spot one of my all time fave at Newcastle during my working trip. There's just one small thing the place is a tad too dim for my liking. Normally, I'm a big fan of seiw noodle. Last time, one of your staff members recommended trying the 'snow peas', and wow, it was delightful! It's not something I would usually go for, but their suggestion was spot on. Also, your staff rocks! They usually nail the friendly vibe without being over-the-top. There's this one chubby staff member who's all about the chit-chat, it's pretty cool how she gauges who's up for a chat and who just wants to enjoy a quiet meal. Great attention to detail!. It's cool, but maybe remind everyone that we're not all in for long convos. Thanks for keeping things awesome, and can't wait for more great eats at Benjamas when I go...